i am in a bit of a pickle i am making a gaming machine (not a top spec one)

so far i have

ASU P5N SLI board
2 GB of OCZ DDR2 800 Mhz ram
and an Intel Core 2 Duo 6400 processor

but for the graphics i was wondering whether to go for 2 cheaper 7600GT's in SLi or to maybe invest in a better single card.

the machine will mainly be used for Counterstrike/Halflife and Photoshop work??

help

Single. X1950 midranged lineup....

=)

Definetly a single card. You can get an x1950xt for just over $200 these days.

sli aint worth it

8800GTS 320MB is the only way to go.

Good Luck

w/e you say there killer..... spening an extra $100+ on something that he's only going to be playing HL2 on, nice idea.

thanks guys i suppose i can always buy a decent Geforce and Sli it in the future.

looks like i will be getting a single card many thanks again.

What card you going for?

An X1950 Pro would be perfect for what you're wanting to do.

i guess a 1950 pro looks favorite now

IMHO, SLI is only worth it on top-end cards (8800) and if you have money. Even then, the performance gained per cost is not good.

If you're definitely not going to do SLI in the future and need to buy right now, then yea, 1950 pro is the way to go.

I you are considering SLI, you might want to wait about a month for the 8600. It's DX10 compatible and should edge out 1950 pro by a good margin in DX9.

SLI really only makes it worth while to crank up the FSAA and AF at higher resolutions and maximum detail, unless you play alot of Oblivion and even then you'd be better off with a X1950 XT/XTX rather than paying near the same for two 7600GTs. Simply put it's not worth it with the cards you want to get - especially with the 8900GS (near 8800 GTS perf) being around a month or two away for only $200.

If you really can't wait and you want to get something get a 7950 GT. Should be faster than 2 7600 GT cards anyways.

no point sli-ing midrange or lowrange. you should get a x1950pro/x1950gt/7900gs/7900gt.

Guys, am I missing something?

He's going to play HL2 and Counter Strike Source.

He doesn't even need one mid-range.

He could play those games with a single 7600GT or 1650XT easily.

Don't put power where you don't need it.

What size monitor?

Anything 7600GT/1650XT or up can play HL2/CSS at max settings. BUT, when you put 20" monitors and AA/AF into the equation, we start to have more variables.

Any size screen with full AA/AF, a 1950 Pro or over-clocked 7900GS will handle CSS/HL2 no problem.

Why do people say are only going to play a few certain games.

I thought that when I decided I wanted to upgrade my existing computer to play all the games I had missed over the years, but I thought that that would be a waste of money as my computers with a cheapish midrange card would not play many (if any) future games.

So I decided to spend quite a bit of money that would give me a system that would be able to play yesterdays games and hopefully play future games on resonable settings for a good 2 years at least.

Stating the obvious here, but PC components are expensive (for me) and I dont want to waste £80 just to play a couple of particular games.

So in your case, oswold, a better video card would be justified. But not in the OP's case...

Well bottom line, forget about SLI first of all, second if the only games you'll want to play with that computer are CS:S and HL2 then a single 7600GT would be enough, but if you want to try some of the newer games then definitely stretch out for a X1950PRO, X1950XT or 8800GTS 320MB, depending on your budget.

yeah never thought of that i have a 20" samsung widescreen mate so i wanted something a little pokier for the near future

In that case...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130082

This should be the minimum for a 20" widescreen...

I still say!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130082


The only way to go.

Hey man I hear yah,I bought a 7950gt to play C*C Generals and now 12 games later I can't stop playing CoH,I may have to go to China for some of their treatment for online gaming addiction.

To hell with that. Save you money and buy a new 8800 for $259. at the egg. Oh, and next month don't forget boout the X6850 for $299.